


truth or dare

by thearkdelinquents



Category: Anne of Green Gables (TV 1985) & Related Fandoms, Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Confessions, F/M, First Kiss, Gilbert boards at Green Gables, Hide and Seek, Love Confessions, New Girl au, Roommates, Truth or Dare, boarding au, totally Ness inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 05:39:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16549982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thearkdelinquents/pseuds/thearkdelinquents
Summary: “Anne, truth or dare?” Josie smirked at Anne, a devious glint in her eye.Lifting her chin and looking Josie in the eye, Anne chose, “Dare.” She could take whatever Josie had to throw at her.The smirk on Josie’s face grew larger and Anne was sure she had picked the wrong thing. Without breaking eye contact or even taking a second the think about it, Josie said, “I dare you to go behind that door and kiss Gilbert Blythe. On the lips.”





	truth or dare

**Author's Note:**

> HERE IS THE SHIRBERT NEW GIRL AU THAT NO ONE ASKED FOR

         The summer Anne and Gilbert shared a home was a peculiar one. One night, a terrible storm blew in from the coast, whipping debris everywhere. Anne woke up the next morning to find Green Gables strewn with branches and some of the fence boards knocked down. Relative to the Blythe homestead, though, Green Gables had fared fine. At some time during the night, a tree got knocked over and fell right through the roof above Gilbert’s bedroom.

         Thankfully, Gilbert had been in the living room at the time, checking the fireplace for leaks. The rest of the house was fine, but the roof above his room had a huge hole, leaving the room uninhabitable. When Matthew came over the next day to help fix the damage, he offered Gilbert a place to stay at Green Gables. Gilbert had tried to decline, but Matthew insisted. There were no other bedrooms in the house and Matthew didn’t think it right to have him sleep on the couch when they had perfectly good bedrooms at their place.

         And so, Gilbert Blythe moved into Green Gables for the summer, much to Anne’s dismay.

         It wasn’t that she didn’t like Gilbert’s company- they were friends now- but having him in her house was a bit disconcerting. Where she had normally been able to come down to breakfast in all states of disorder, now she had to be at least semi-presentable. Gilbert never seemed to care what he looked like, though.

         The first morning she saw Gilbert right after he woke up had freaked Anne out so badly she almost skipped breakfast.

         Anne smoothed down the flyaways surrounding her face in the mirror beside her door. She wasn’t going to change and braid her hair before breakfast, that was too much. She refused to let a boy’s presence affect her that drastically. Besides, Jerry had seen her early in the morning so what did it matter if Gilbert did, too? But, she still smoothed down some of her hair before she went down- she didn’t want to look like a complete monster.

         After one last appraising look, Anne left her room, turning around to close the door quietly behind her. Gilbert’s room was right next to hers and she didn’t want to wake him if he was still asleep. As she was pulling the door closed, though, she heard the door behind her open.

         “Good morning, Anne.” A rumbling voice sounded behind her.

         Not recognizing the voice Anne whipped around to find Gilbert rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Her eyes widened as she took him in. His already unruly curls were downright wild on top of his head. His eyes were heavy with sleep and she watched as he stretched out the length of his body in a yawn.

         “Are you not so talkative in the mornings?” Gilbert laughed, his voice deeper than usual after just waking up.

         “I forgot something!” Anne squeaked, flinging herself back into her room and closing the door between them.

She let her head fall against the door as she heard him start down the stairs. She didn’t know why seeing Gilbert early in the morning freaked her out so badly. It was probably because when Anne had told the girls that Gilbert was going to be boarding with them, Ruby started crying, saying that Anne was so lucky she would get to see him right after he woke up.

         That was it, she decided. It was Ruby’s fault she was in such a state. Anne smoothed down her hair again and headed down to breakfast.

         Anne was more prepared for Gilbert’s distressed morning look in the following weeks. She had grown comfortable in his presence, even. Where she had been wired and jumpy when he first arrived, now she didn’t think twice about bumping shoulders in the hallway or brushing hands over dishes at dinner.

         They spent most of their days together; they woke up for breakfast and headed over to the Blythe homestead to start work. Later in the day, Matthew and Jerry would join them after finishing the chores at Green Gables. Most of the time Anne helped carry the wood for the repairs, but no one would let her up on the roof to do the real work.

         “Gilbert, I am perfectly capable of using a hammer and nails.” Anne said, hands on her hips.

         Gilbert only laughed. “Anne, I know that. But Matthew gave me strict orders to not let you on the roof no matter how much you argued.”

         Anne huffed, and Gilbert tugged on one of her braids playfully before walking back over towards the ladder. She watched him as he climbed up on top of the roof and looked down, offering her a sympathetic smile.

         “I’ll have you know I have been on roofs before!” Anne called up.

         “I know, Anne!” Gilbert yelled back, “I think that’s the problem!”

         Anne crossed her arms across her chest and walked back inside to help Mary paint the patched wall in Gilbert’s room. When she got to the room, though, Mary was nowhere to be found. Conscientious of the fact she told Marilla she’d stop being so nosey but too tempted by the fact that no one was here to actually see her looking around, Anne took a turn about his room.

         It was strange being in Gilbert’s room. She had been in his room at Green Gables, but this was different. All of his personal stuff was in here. The whole place screamed Gilbert. As she looked around, she noticed striking similarities between the two of them. He had a stack of books beside his nightstand about to fall over. Thankfully, the rain had missed them when the tree fell through the roof. She could see handwritten notes on science and math poking out from the drawer of his desk just like hers at home.

         A framed picture on his desk caught her attention. A young Gilbert smiled up at her, sitting in the lap of a man who could only be his father. Even as a boy Gilbert’s hair was out of control. The two of them wore matching smiles, beaming at the camera. This must have been before Gilbert’s dad got sick, he looked healthier and happier than when she had seen him.

         She set the picture back down on the desk, moving onto the picture beside it. That one was of Gilbert only and it was hand drawn. In the corner of the paper a ‘J.B.’ was scratched. The drawing must have been one of the last things Gilbert’s father did, the Gilbert in this drawing wasn’t much younger than when his father passed.

         The drawing was a portrait, capturing Gilbert with a soft smile on his face. She couldn’t tell if it was drawn from memory or with Gilbert posing, but it was perfect. Picturing Gilbert posing for a drawing made her laugh, though. The sparkle Mr. Blythe had captured in Gilbert’s eyes on paper emulated him perfectly and Anne felt a smile tugging up at her lips as she looked at it. She ran her fingers across the lines of his jaw, his ears.

         “Anne!”

         Anne slammed the paper back down on the desk and jumped in front of it as she looked up to see Mary standing in the doorway.

         Mary looked down at the corner of paper sticking out behind Anne and smirked. “Lunch is ready.”

         “I was just looking.” Anne said, a blush spreading across her face.

         “Gilbert’s dad was a very good artist.” Mary said as Anne joined her in the hallway.

         “Oh, yes,” Anne said, her cheeks reddening.

 

-

 

         A few days later, Anne had a particularly bad night. The nightmares that plagued her every night in the orphanage had stopped happening as frequently since her establishment at Green Gables, but that didn’t mean she was out of their grasp completely. This night, one of the sisters grabbed her by the hair, calling her the names she had tried so hard to forget. They slung her to the floor before grabbing a belt. She screamed, crying as the belt cracked across her back.

         “Anne! Anne, hey, it’s okay.”

         Anne woke up to her sheets clinging to her sweaty body, fresh tears covering her face. Her hair was plastered to her forehead and she clutched her sheets to her chest as her chest heaved.

         “Anne, it’s okay! You’re safe,” Gilbert said, as Anne felt his hand come to rest on her arm.

         She could see him now, illuminated by the moonlight streaming through her window. He was crouched beside her bed, shushing her as she tried to calm her breathing. Hot shame washed over her as she realized she must have been screaming in her sleep and woke her up.

         “Gil… Gilbert, I’m sorry…” Anne said, trying to wipe the tears from her face, looking away from him.

         “Hey, no don’t apologize, it’s okay.” Gilbert reached up to wipe a fresh tear from the corner of her eye. Anne felt her skin light up where his thumb brushed.

         Gilbert lit the lantern by her bed, bringing the flame down low. Anne kept her eyes down at her hands in her lap. When she had first arrived at Green Gables, Anne had liked being upstairs because she knew it would keep Marilla and Matthew from hearing her nightmares. With Gilbert’s room sharing a wall with hers, though, it was no wonder he heard her crying out.

         “I’m sorry I woke you,” Anne said when she could finally take a deep breath.

         Gilbert was still crouched beside her bed, looking up at her. She looked over at him but had to look away because his gaze was so intense.

         “Anne, stop apologizing. It’s normal. I get them too sometimes.”

         Anne looked back over at Gilbert but found he was looking away from her this time. She scooted over in her bed, giving him room to sit on the edge. Slowly, Gilbert stood and sat beside her, on top of the blankets. Anne knew if Marilla came in the room right now the scene would look incredibly improper, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to be alone right now.

         They sat there together in silence for a moment. The entire length of Anne’s arm was pressed against Gilbert’s. Anne savored the contact after such an isolating dream.

         “I had them a lot after my dad died.” Gilbert said after a moment, his voice strained. “My dad didn’t… pass… violently but I always had dreams of him dying in different ways and I couldn’t stop any of it. I just had to watch…”

         Anne looked over. Gilbert was staring out the window, his jaw set. She could tell his mind was very far away from this conversation. She wanted to reach out and touch him, to let him know he wasn’t alone.

         “Mine are always of the orphanage,” Anne said, bringing her attention to the tree just outside her window. She concentrated on the white blossoms, shining in the moonlight. “I thought they’d stop after I found a home, but I think our demons always stick with us. We just have to accept them as a part of us like we would accept anything else… Like I accept my atrocious hair,” Anne said, a half laugh, trying to lighten them both up.

         “I like your hair,” Gilbert said, turning towards Anne.

         When she looked at him a smile was on his face, similar to the one in the drawing she had seen earlier. This wasn’t the first time Gilbert had said he liked her hair and normally she fought him on it, but she didn’t have it in her tonight.

         “Tell me a story,” she said, leaning her head back against her headboard.

         Gilbert cleared his throat and started telling her the story of the last time he and his dad went hiking in the mountains. When he started talking about their fishing adventure, though, his voice had lulled Anne back to sleep. She woke the next morning after a deep, dreamless sleep, with her blankets tucked around her and Gilbert nowhere in sight. She wasn’t worried about it being awkward with him the next day- Gilbert wasn’t the kind of person to hold things over her. They had a mutual understanding of pain and its ugliness. At breakfast the next day, an outsider wouldn’t have been able to tell anything happened the night before, unless they saw the small smile Gilbert saved for Anne as she passed him the juice.

They decided to forgo working on Gilbert’s house that day, instead deciding to study for their upcoming entrance exams. They were sitting on the porch, leaning against columns opposite each other. Anne was sat cross legged across from Gilbert, whose leg swung off the porch absentmindedly. Their books were on their laps, but the two of them were looking out over the fields, lost in thought.

“I’m bored,” Anne lamented.

Gilbert laughed. “Yeah, reviewing different prose techniques isn’t the most interesting way to spend the day.”

A thought popped into Anne’s head and she sat up excitedly. “Let’s play hide-n-seek!”

“Hide-n-seek?” Gilbert said, smiling at Anne through scrunched eyebrows.

“It’s not just a child’s game, Gilbert,” Anne insisted, closing her book and setting it beside her. “if you don’t agree to play I am just going to assume it’s because you’re afraid of losing to me.”

         “Alright, fine.” Gilbert said, standing, as Anne knew he would.

         “I hide first!” Anne said, and took off before he could protest.

         She laughed as she heard him shout about being unfair. She knew the game was pretty unfair for him, this was her home, but she didn’t care. Any chance she had to beat Gilbert, she would take. She would go easy on him this first round, though. She flattened herself against the side of the chicken coop as she heard him finish counting. She was inside the fence outside the chicken coop and that probably wasn’t fair, but he was smart enough to figure it out, she figured.

         Quickly, she realized this was a horrible spot to hide. She heard Gilbert come in the gate at the same time she realized there was only one exit and she wouldn’t be able to sneak past him to get out. She wouldn’t go down without a fight, though. Peeking her head around the corner ever so slightly, she watched Gilbert walk around the corner of the coop towards her. She took off towards the gate and saw him turn around at the sound of her foot coming down on a stick. She squealed and flung herself out of the gate, Gilbert hot on her heels. She didn’t chance another look back as she took off back towards the porch, towards safety.

         She heard him running behind her though and soon felt him pick her up off the ground just before she could get to the porch. She screamed, laughing as he twirled her around.

         “Gilbert!” Anne laughed, her sides hurting. “Put me down!”

         She could feel him laughing as he kept spinning her around. His strong arms held her tight to his chest. Her breath was coming up short and her head felt light as she struggled against his arms. Suddenly, though, he felt too close.

         “Gilbert, seriously. Put me down.” Anne struggled against him again.

         Noticing the shift in her tone, Gilbert immediately set her down and backed off, stepping around in front of her to peer into her eyes. “Hey, I’m sorry.”

         Anne stepped away, his arm falling back to his sides as she avoided his eyes. “No, it’s fine, sorry.” She wanted to put as much distance between them as possible.

         Embarrassed, Anne hugged her arms towards herself. She didn’t know what had come over her but being that close to Gilbert had just been too much to handle right then. They were enemies not too long ago and now here they were doing… whatever they were doing. If Ruby had seen him with his arms around her…

         “Let’s just… go back to studying,” Gilbert cleared his throat and walked back over to the porch.

         “I’m not feeling too well, I think I’m going to go lie down…” Anne said when she got back to the porch.

         “Anne…”

         “No, it’s nothing to worry about, Dr. Blythe.” Anne said, trying to plaster a smile on her face. “I just think the sun has exhausted me.”

         Anne heard Gilbert sigh as she turned and went inside. They had grown close this summer and Anne valued her friendship with Gilbert above anything else, except perhaps Diana. But sometimes she felt things that moved their relationship towards something different than what she had with Diana and it scared her. She knew Gilbert would never reciprocate those feelings for her and she didn’t want to ruin the friendship they had finally acquired because she had gone and caught feelings. If she had. She was still in denial that those feelings even existed. Instead, she compartmentalized and shoved them down, in an effort to protect their friendship.

 

-

 

“Ruby, for the last time, Gilbert looks exactly the same when he wakes up as he does the rest of the day,” Anne said, exasperated.

         Ruby was undeterred though. “Anne, there is no way that Gilbert Blythe doesn’t look different when he first wakes up in the morning. I know you’ve seen him when he wakes up, just please describe it! I know it’s amazing!”

         Anne tried to keep her blush at bay as she groaned. The girls were hanging out by Diana’s pond, enjoying the sun. Ruby has been pestering Anne for details of Gilbert’s domestic life all summer.

         “I don’t know, I guess his hair is messier? If that’s even possible,” Anne scoffed.

         Ruby whined. “Oh, Anne, you are by far the luckiest girl I know!”

         Anne looked at Diana as their friend flung herself back in the grass. They both rolled their eyes, laughing.

         “I don’t think I would consider myself lucky for having to live with _Gilbert Blythe_ for the summer,” Anne tried to put as much scorn in his name as she could, though it fell flat. She tossed another stone into the pond.

         “I can’t wait to see everyone at the Pye’s estate this weekend,” Diana said.

         “Oh, I know! It’ll be so excited to see all the boys!” Ruby exclaimed, sitting back up. “It was so generous of the Pye’s to invite the schoolkids along.”

         Josie Pye had told them when they hung out last week that a famous preacher was coming into town and her parents were hosting his sermon at their manor. She also talked, at length, about how generous it was of her family to invite even the children. She had given Anne a pointed side-eye.

         Marilla, Matthew, Mary, and Sebastian were all planning on attending, along with the rest of the town, so that meant Anne and Gilbert were going as well. The schoolkids were to be regulated to the sitting room upstairs, though. The sermon was one especially for the adults.

         “Yes, so generous,” Anne said, trying as hard as she could to not sound sarcastic. Diana still swatted at Anne’s leg, though.

         The three girls laid back in the grass, taking in the sunshine.

 

-       

           
         The carriage jostled along the winding road, bumping Anne and Gilbert’s shoulders together as they sat between their families. Anne scoffed as the Pye house came into sight; it was no wonder Josie Pye acted the way she did, her family was obviously wealthy. In her short life, Anne had found that wealth had a certain way of spoiling people’s personalities. The large house’s windows were lit up against the night and light music floated out as the guests walked through the open doors.

         “Anne, please be on your best behavior. It was very kind of the Pye’s to allow the children to come and stay upstairs.” Marilla lectured Anne as they got out of the carriage and smoothed down their dresses.

         “Yes, Josie made sure I knew that.” Anne grumbled, smoothing down her skirts. Anne heard Gilbert chuckle beside her.

         Marilla gave Anne a stern look before they started up the stairs and into the home.

         “Ah! The Cuthberts and the Blythes! Welcome.” Josie Pye’s mother greeted them as they all walked in, but her smile was strained as she took in the company before her. Anne could tell this was not a woman used to having people like this in her house. Anne had never been prouder.

         “Where should we put our coats?” Matthew asked, breaking the awkward silence.

         “Right, I’m sorry, you can put them on the hook there. The parlor is down the hall to the right and Anne and Gilbert, the stairs are here on your left.” She gestured to the stairs beside them.

         They could hear the hum of conversation as she walked up the stairwell. The walls were covered in a yellow wallpaper that reminded Anne of a doctor’s office. Gilbert walked beside Anne on the stairs.

         “What do you think Josie has planned for tonight?” Gilbert asked as they climbed up.

         “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be fun for no one but her,” Anne whispered.

         Gilbert laughed as they got to the top of the landing. As they got to the top of the threshold, the voices grew louder, and Anne saw her classmates in the sitting room through the open doors. Matthew had had some trouble with the horses as they left Green Gables, so they were the last to arrive.

Walking into the crowded room reminded her of how she felt when she walked into the schoolhouse for the first time, and just like that first time, Gilbert walked in beside her. Anne smiled at the memory as she took in the room before her. Opulent flower pieces flowed off of the giant fireplaces, accenting the floral carpeting and filigree furniture.

         “Now this is just obnoxious,” Gilbert leaned down to whisper in Anne’s ear.

         She snorted and tried to hide it as a cough as Diana noticed her.

         “Anne!” Diana called, waving her friend over.

         “Did I miss anything?” Anne asked as she joined her friends.

         “Oh, nothing, really. Everyone’s just been talking.” Diana said, looking around the room, eyes landing on Gilbert who had walked over to join his friends on the opposite side of the room. “Gilbert looks dashing this evening,” she said, giving Anne one of her signature smirks.

         Anne narrowed her eyes at her friend, which only made Diana’s smile grow bigger.

         “Josie said she has a game planned for everyone.” Ruby whispered conspiratorially.

         Anne groaned. Josie Pye’s games were anything but fun. Anne was sure Josie sat up at night sketching out ideas for ‘games’ whose sole purpose were to mortify other people. Especially her.

         “I should’ve known we couldn’t just have a fun evening.” Anne lamented. “Josie just has to find a way to torture everyone.”

         “Oh, come on Anne. It could be fun. We don’t even know what the game is yet.” Diana squeezed Anne’s arm reassuringly.

         As if on cue, Josie Pye cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. Conversations stopped, and everyone’s attention went to Josie in the center of the room.

         “Welcome to my house, everyone! I just want to say thank you on behalf of my parents for joining us this evening. Now, if everyone would please form a circle and sit down, I have a game to play.” Bringing a bottle out from behind her back with a flourish, Josie beamed at her classmates. Anne noticed a hungry gleam in her eye.

         Nausea washed over Anne as her classmates all rushed to form a circle. A couple of them, like her, were not thrilled.

         “Can we please not play spin the bottle?” Anne said, refusing to sit down.

         Josie turned to look at Anne, who squared her shoulders, ready for the challenge. Gilbert’s lips turned up in a smile at the sight.

         “For your information, we aren’t playing spin the bottle.” Josie said, crossing her arms. “We’re playing truth or dare.”

         Whispers sounded across the room as everyone took in this new development. Not sensing any immediate danger from the name of the game, Anne only narrowed her eyes at Josie before taking a seat beside Diana. She looked up at Gilbert, who was across the room from her. Anne rolled her eyes in exasperation, making Gilbert chuckle. Josie raised an eyebrow at the exchange.

         “Okay, the rules are simple. Someone spins the bottle. Then, they ask ‘Truth or dare?’ to whoever it lands on.”

         At the same time, Gilbert and Anne made eye contact and whispered, “Whomever…” under their breath.

         “If they answer truth, you have to ask them a question and they have to tell the truth. If they answer dare, you get to dare them to do something,” pausing for effect, Josie added, “Anything.”

         Giggles broke out as Anne squirmed on the floor. She hadn’t realized how risky this game could be after all. All she could do is pray the bottle didn’t land on her.

         Josie started the game, with the bottle landing on Charlie Sloane.

         “Charlie, truth or dare?”

         Charlie pondered for a moment before choosing dare.

         “Alright, I dare you to… smell Moody’s armpit.”

         Riotous laughter enveloped the room as Charlie groaned. Moody lifted his arm, smelling his own armpit. Grimacing, he apologized to Charlie as he approached. Charlie sniffed Moody’s armpit and then made retching sounds as he went back to his seat. Anne caught Gilbert’s eye as they both laughed so hard tears formed in their eyes. Maybe this game would be fun after all.

         The game continued with laughter as Charlie and then Tilly and then Billy took a turn. The boys always opted for dare, trying to make everyone laugh. After Billy stood in the center of the circle pantomiming a pig on Tilly’s dare, Anne glanced over at Gilbert.

         _Fitting._ He mouthed to her. She stifled a laugh into a cough into her sleeve. Across the circle, Josie Pye watched them with piqued interest. Billy reached forward to spin the bottle and Anne almost visibly exhaled after the top swung past her to land on Ruby.

         “Ruby, truth or dare?” Billy asked.

         Not wanting to have to embarrass herself by acting like an animal, Ruby chose the safest option. “Truth.”

         Billy pondered for a moment, trying to figure out a question. “Okay, I’ve got it. What is the secret ingredient in your gingersnaps?”

         Anne’s shoulder’s slumped at the disappointment in the question. Not that she wanted her friend to be embarrassed, but Billy had an opportunity to get any truth out of Ruby Gillis and he asked for a recipe? Anne looked over at Gilbert who was wearing a matching expression on his face. This time Gilbert rolled his eyes at the lack of imagination in Billy Andrews.

         “Oh,” Ruby said, ecstatic to avoid having to reveal any juicy truths. “Cinnamon.”

         Billy nodded his head solemnly as Ruby grabbed the bottle. The bottle swung around the circle and landed on Gilbert. Anne rolled her eyes internally as she could practically see her friend vibrate with excitement.

         “Gilbert, truth or dare?” Ruby beamed across the circle at him.

         “Hmm…” Gilbert looked up at the ceiling, contemplating what Ruby could possibly come up with. “Truth.”

         Anne sat up a little straighter, happy to get any kind of secret out of Gilbert. They were friends now, and friends should know things about other friends. It was only normal. She would be excited if Diana was going to reveal a truth, too.

         Suddenly shy, Ruby said, “Do you have a crush on someone?”

         Anne’s eyes flew down and she picked at the hem of her dress trying to still her frantic heart. She told herself she was just nervous for Gilbert.

         “Oh, um…” Gilbert furrowed his brow in concentration as he looked at the floor in front of him. His jaw ticked as he decided whether or not to tell the truth.

         As if she could read minds, Josie Pye leaned forward and said, “You have to tell the truth.”

         Gilbert was a terrible liar, he knew. He scratched the back of his neck and stammered out, “Um y- yes. I do.”

         Her smile so big and bright it was actually blinding, Ruby stared at Gilbert across the circle. Their classmates started whispering between them while Ruby squeezed Diana’s hand. Diana only glanced over at Anne, whose head was still determinedly down. Anne could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She reasoned that she just felt bad for Gilbert, it was an awfully unfair thing to reveal you had a crush in front of everyone. Looking up to offer him some sort of sympathetic smile, Anne watched Gilbert reach forward to spin the bottle. He would not look her in the eye, though.

         Even as the game progressed, and everyone moved on from Gilbert revealing his truth, Gilbert wasn’t catching Anne’s eye. She tried to get his attention to laugh as Moody licked the doorknob, but still he didn’t meet her eye. She figured he was just too focused on the sight of Moody grimacing as he tasted the metal. She felt bad for him. Of course Gilbert had a crush on someone, the other girls in their class were so pretty. And now it was out on full display.

         Eventually, the bottle came back around to Josie Pye. When the bottle landed on her, Anne wished for the floor to open up and swallow her inside of it.

         “Anne, truth or dare?” Josie smirked at Anne, a devious glint in her eye.

         Anne really wasn’t sure which option was safer. Josie Pye had a knack for embarrassing Anne, be it physically or verbally. Either way, Anne was going to hate this.

         Lifting her chin and looking Josie in the eye, Anne chose, “Dare.” She could take whatever Josie had to throw at her.

         The smirk on Josie’s face grew larger and Anne was sure she had picked the wrong thing. Without breaking eye contact or even taking a second the think about it, Josie said, “I dare you to go behind that door and kiss Gilbert Blythe. On the lips.”

         Everyone gasped, all eyes on Anne and Gilbert. A blush instantly bloomed across Anne’s face and neck. She wanted to die. She would’ve licked thousands of doorknobs to avoid this.

         Not looking at Gilbert, Anne said, “No. That’s not…” The room was deathly silent.

         “You can’t pass. Those are the rules.” Josie pointed to the door that lead into an adjoining drawing room.

         The room exploded in noise and next thing Anne knew, she was being shoved behind the door with Gilbert beside her. She didn’t even have a chance to try and cling to Diana for safety. Her classmates closed the door and she could hear them chanting, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” on the other side.

Anne stood facing Gilbert, her arms folded across her chest. She stared at the floor between them while Gilbert looked above her, scratching the back of his neck.

“Um…” Gilbert said, wanting to disappear.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Anne said.

Gilbert’s eyes snapped down to her. She was looking up at him with the same determination she had when they were head to head in a spelling bee.

“What?!” He croaked.

Anne huffed. “Just kiss me.”

“I- we- let’s just lie!” Gilbert took a step back as Anne shook her head, crossing her arms across her chest again.

“Gilbert, you’re a terrible liar.”

Gilbert cringed as Anne took another step towards him.

“Just a quick kiss and it can be over. I’m sure your crush won’t mind since it was my dare.”

Gilbert gave her a queer look and Anne groaned.

“Gilbert, just do it!”

“Okay, fine!” He stepped towards her and Anne’s arms fell back down to her sides.

He put his hands on her shoulders as Anne stared into his eyes. They had grown to be great friends this summer, this was nothing. They could move past this, Anne thought. It didn’t have to mean anything. Gilbert found himself lost in how blue Anne’s eyes were this close. The sounds of their classmates hollering faded away, leaving Anne and Gilbert feeling entirely alone. Anne tried her hardest to be as still as possible, hoping he couldn’t feel how badly she was shaking. She looked into his dark eyes, so close she could count his eyelashes. He slowly closed his eyes and leaned towards her, bringing their lips-

“Stop!” Anne squeaked, taking a small step back. Her heart was in her throat and she was pretty sure she was about to go into cardiac arrest.

“What?!” Gilbert said, his face shocked.

“Don’t do that! With your eyes.” Anne said, the blush on her face growing deeper, somehow.

“You don’t want me to close my eyes?” Gilbert said, furrowing his brow.

Fitting, that their arguing about this, she thought. “It’s just... Don’t do that.”

Huffing, Gilbert stepped towards her again. “Fine, whatever.”

Plastering a goofy smile on his face, eyes wide, Gilbert leaned back in towards Anne. Laughing, she swatted his shoulder.

“Don’t do that either!”

Some of the tension gone, they both laughed for a second. Steeling herself, Anne rolled her shoulders back and stood in front of Gilbert. She smiled up at him, grateful that things weren’t as tense as a moment ago.

“Okay, kiss me.”

Gilbert, however, immediately tensed back up. “Let’s just not!”

“Ugh, Gilbert!” Anne stomped her foot as Gilbert turned away, trying to put more distance between them.

“We don’t have to-” Gilbert said, wringing his hands.

“Is the idea of kissing me really that bad!”

“It’s not that it’s just-”

“Then just kiss me!”

“Not like this!” Gilbert half shouted before he realized what he said.

Anne sucked a breath in, her mouth clamping shut and eyes wide. Gilbert stood, frozen. All of the air had been sucked out of the room. Time stood still.

“What does that mean…” Anne whispered. She had the distinct sense that they were both standing on the edge of something, not knowing what was below.

“I-” Gilbert started and then stopped.

They both just stared at each other for a moment. For once, neither of them had words. Anne watched as his eyes flicked back and forth between hers and his throat bobbed as he swallowed. Then, suddenly, he looked around her and walked past her, muttering to himself.

“Gilbert!” Anne whipped around and watched as Gilbert practically ran up to the doors leading to the balcony outside. He flung the doors open, peeking out. She watched as he stepped out onto the balcony and climbed up the railing.

“Gilbert!” She screamed, running over to him.

“It’s fine… It’s…” Gilbert muttered as he hoisted himself onto the edge of the balcony and started stepping across to the next one.

Anne watched as he climbed from the balcony leading off of the drawing room they were in and over to the balcony attached to the room their classmates were in. The gap between the two wasn’t much, but they were on the second floor- he could still fall and get hurt.

“You don’t have to kiss me!” Anne yelled, trying to get him to come down.

She heard screaming as her classmates saw Gilbert on the ledge outside. He jumped down onto the balcony and they opened the doors and pulled him into the room. Anne stared after him, slack-jawed.

This was it, this was the lowest point of her life. A boy had just climbed off of a balcony to avoid kissing her. She hadn’t thought it was that big of a deal, her and Gilbert were friends. One peck and it would’ve been over. Instead, he decided to rick his life to get away from her. She considered escaping and waiting in the carriage for Marilla and Matthew to go home. But then they would all ask a bunch of questions and it would be especially weird with Gilbert there. She knew that avoiding her friends would only make matters worse. She was going to have to face the ridicule of her peers head on, like she always does.

Anne lifted her chin and walked through the drawing room doors to the sitting room. She was met by a whooping Billy Andrews.

“He climbed out of a balcony to avoid kissing you, freak!” Billy was doubled over in laughter, tears coming out of his eyes.

Anne ignored him and walked over to her friends, who were standing on the edge of the crowd around Gilbert.

“Oh, Anne!” Anne heard just before being tackled by Ruby. “Thank you so much for not kissing him!”

“Oh, um…” Anne just patted Ruby’s back as the girl squeezed her tightly.

Ruby pulled back, looking Anne in the eyes solemnly. “I know you did that for me,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

“Sure…” Anne whispered as Ruby turned and went to Gilbert.

“Gilbert, if you ever get the urge to jump again, just call for me, okay?” Ruby said, grasping one of Gilbert’s hands in both of hers.

“Okay…” Gilbert said, glancing up at Anne. Anne looked away immediately, back towards Diana.

“What happened?” Diana whispered, pulling Anne away from the crowd.

“I don’t want to talk about it…” Anne said, not looking Diana in the eyes.

After a few more minutes of laughter and not nearly as much ridicule as she expected, everyone eventually calmed down and the game started once more. Anne and Gilbert determinedly avoided each other’s gaze throughout the rest of the evening. Anne was thankful she avoided another turn in this game of torture before the sermon downstairs ended and everyone had to leave. Every time Anne looked at Josie Pye, the girl seemed to be laughing at her.

The carriage ride home was unbearably awkward. Anne tried to squeeze as close to Matthew and as far from Gilbert as she possibly could. She wanted to throw up and cry and crawl in a hole all at once. Hot, hot shame was drowning her from head to toe. When their families asked why they were so quiet, both Anne and Gilbert feigned tiredness.

While Gilbert said goodbye to Mary and Sebastian, Anne ran upstairs and flung herself down in bed. Silent tears streaked down her cheeks as her mind raced for hours. She wasn’t angry at Gilbert, as she thought she ought to be. It wasn’t fair for him to get forced into doing something on her dare, after all. In fact, after thinking on it for such a long time, she was worried he was angry at _her_. She had inadvertently put him in such a weird position because of Josie Pye’s hatred for her. The only reason Josie picked Gilbert was because she knew they were friends now and she wanted to make it all as awkward as possible. Now, Gilbert probably didn’t even want to be her friend anymore.

No, she wasn’t angry at him. She was more upset at how much he hadn’t wanted to kiss her.

Her mind racing, Anne figured she wasn’t going to get any sleep any time soon. Instead, she climbed out of bed. On nights she had trouble calming her mind, she liked to sit outside and breathe in the night air. It helped clear her mind.

As she stepped out of her room, though, Gilbert was stepping out of his at the exact same time.

“Gilbert,” Anne said.

“Anne,” Gilbert said at the same time.

Anne smiled softly at him as he chuckled, looking down. She didn’t know where he was going so late at night but after a beat he stepped towards her.

“I’m sorry…” Gilbert started.

Anne put a hand up, cutting him off, “No, Gilbert, don’t apologize. Josie Pye put you in a horribly awkward situation. It wasn’t fair that my dare was at your expense too.”

“But I embarrassed you…” Gilbert said, guilt in his eyes. “I climbed off of a balcony…”

Anne laughed, seeing the situation as too objectively funny to be bitter about. “Yeah, that was a bit much…”

“You think so?” Gilbert laughed.

“Yeah, I mean you’re a terrible liar but I’m sure we could’ve come up with a better escape for that situation.”

The two of them laughed, all tension between them slipping away. Anne knew she wasn’t angry at Gilbert. Even if she was disappointed, her relief at him not being angry with her was all she could think about.

The knot in her stomach slowly unclenching, Anne started to feel how tired she was.

“Goodnight, Gilbert.” Anne said, smiling at him with forgiveness in her eyes.

“Goodnight, Anne.”

Anne turned to go back into her room, but before she could grab the door, she felt Gilbert’s hand wrap around hers. She spun around as she was pulled back towards Gilbert. Before she could ask what he was doing, his lips crashed into hers, blocking out any other thought than this moment right now. She felt his hands cradle the back of her head, pulling her closer to him as they both breathed each other in. Anne felt weightless, all she knew was Gilbert. He was overwhelming every one of her senses. Too soon, he pulled away, their foreheads touching. Anne’s breathing shallow, she looked at Gilbert whose breathing matched hers, his eyes closed, a smile ghosting his lips.

“I meant something like that.” He whispered before pulling back and turning away, slipping into his room.

Anne brought her fingers to her lips as she stared at the closed door between them. A laugh bubbled up in her chest as her heartbeat sounded in her ears. She knew they hadn’t fallen off of an edge, no, they had jumped off, together and she wasn’t scared. As she stood in her hallway, looking towards Gilbert in the room beside hers, she knew there was no one else she would want to leap with.

**Author's Note:**

> This really got away from me, you guys. It started as just the truth or dare scene (as a reflection of the prime Ness episode "The Cooler") but then I couldn't figure out how to make Gilbert and Anne see each other afterwards so I was like okay well what if I just went for it and make it a whole New Girl AU so.... here we are.
> 
> please please PLEASE leave me comments/kudos if you feel it! Tell me what you loved, tell me what you hated. Also, please give me shirbert ideas/prompts!


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